Chapter 1 - THE BRICK
The brick hit before Megan Harrison understood what Noah was doing.
One moment, five-year-old Ella was standing near the entrance of the Harrison family’s immaculate living room, clutching the stuffed rabbit she carried everywhere. The next, Noah swung the loose landscaping brick he had brought in from outside.
It struck near Ella’s temple.
She collapsed instantly.
Megan screamed.
By the time she reached her daughter, Andrew was already across the room.
He struck Noah across the face, then grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him backward.
Noah stumbled and fell hard.
For half a second, the entire room froze.
Ella lay unconscious in Megan’s arms.
A thin line of blood appeared on her forehead.
Then Noah looked up at Andrew with a fury that seemed far too old for a ten-year-old boy.
“I’m the one who belongs here—right, Dad?”
Andrew stopped moving.
Not confusion.
Not outrage.
Recognition.
Megan saw it.
And suddenly the worst thing in the room was no longer the brick.
“Why is he calling you Dad?” she whispered.
Andrew said nothing.
Noah’s eyes filled with angry tears.
“You said when Mom died, this would be my home too!”
That sentence landed harder than the brick had.
Because Noah did not sound like a child inventing a lie.
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He sounded like a child repeating a promise.
And Megan knew, before Andrew ever admitted it, that her marriage had just cracked open.
